Einstein's attitude towards experiments: testing relativity theory 1907-1927

In the 1920s, hundreds of pamphlets were published whose authors self-confidently claimed to have refuted the theory of relativity. The opposition to relativity was extraordinarily fierce and lasted years, including not only physicists and philosophers but also scientific laymen. What were the motives of Einstein’s opponents? On what basis was the theory of relativity attacked so vociferously? This article focuses on the emergence of a heterogeneous international network of academic and nonacademic opponents to Einstein in the early 1920s and suggests a theoretical approach for understanding the nature of the controversy about the theory of relativity. I argue that the controversy about the theory of relativity represents a type of controversy that is unresolvable because of the ontological commitments underlying the arguments against academic consensus and the social dynamics of a process of marginalization of proponents of deviant knowledge.

Marginalization processes in science: The controversy about the theory of relativity in the 1920s

Developments in theoretical physics, even when they are revolutionary for physics, usually do not enter public awareness. The reaction to the special relativity theory is one of the few exceptions. The conceptual changes brought by special relativity to our notions of space and time, induced a lively debate not only within intellectual circles but in many strata of the educated middle class. In this article, I focus on a particular moment of public reaction to special and general relativity theory and to its creator Albert Einstein. I try to paint a picture of the anti-Einstein campaign in Germany of 1920, with finer brush strokes than those applied previously by others. My aim is to embed the campaign into the cultural and political climate of the Weimar republic. Without leaving the realm of physics only a superficial understanding of what happened seems possible. My thesis is that the anti-Einstein-campaign was organized, and the physicists involved in it (ab)used, mainly in order to rally support for one of the German right-wing parties, the Deutschnationale Volkspartei.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0269889700001332

The Reaction to Relativity Theory I: The Anti-Einstein Campaign in Germany in 1920

Two important and unpleasant events occurred in Albert Einstein’s life in 1920: That August an antirelativity rally was held in the large auditorium of the Berlin Philharmonic, and a few weeks later Einstein was drawn into a tense and highly publicized debate with Philipp Lenard on the merits of relativity at a meeting in Bad Nauheim, Germany. I review these events and discuss how they affected Einstein in light of new documentary evidence that has become available through the publication of Volume 10 of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein.

Reactionaries and Einstein’s Fame: “German Scientists for the Preservation of Pure Science,” Relativity, and the Bad Nauheim Meeting

This detailed account of the controversy surrounding the publication of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity explores the ferocious popular and academic opposition which at one time encircled one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century Based on extensive archival research, this fascinating discourse includes a compelling and entertaining examination of the contemporary literature created by Einstein's detractors Exploring the arguments and strategies, social contexts, and motivations of Einstein's detractors, and providing unique insights into the dynamics of scientific controversies, this book is ideal for anyone interested in the history and philosophy of physics, popular science, and the public understanding of science

Einstein's Opponents: The Public Controversy about the Theory of Relativity in the 1920s

Recent articles have used the pages of the Times (London) and the New York Times in the period 1919-1920 to document the British and American public reaction to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.' Both newspapers couched their reports in terms of a fight-in Britain between Newton and Einstein, in America between the common folk and the scientists-and both indicated that the theory was incomprehensible. They thus helped to create two persistent myths. The present article uses contemporary sources-the leading newspapers (particularly the Vossische Zeitung) and Einstein's correspondence and documents-to give an account of German public reaction at the time. We shall see that the German reaction-both for better and for worse-differed significantly from the Anglo-American one.

Lewis Elton

Papers

Einstein, General Relativity, and the German Press, 1919-1920